


Truth

by herasux



Series: Toriko/Zebra: Little Moments [5]
Category: Toriko (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, everyone is shocked, one sided Rin/Toriko, rin is crushed emotionally, toriko comes clean, zebra gets pissed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 00:17:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herasux/pseuds/herasux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a celebration after hours at Hotel Gourmet, Rin gets to close for comfort towards Toriko and Zebra can't help but snap which leads to the truth finally spilling out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if any of you were waiting for a fic like this, but I've wanted to do it ever since I started writing Toriko/Zebra which hasn't been long ago at all.

Having nabbed a seat next to Toriko, Rin inwardly felt triumph at being able to do so, and gushed over the blue haired Gourmet Hunter a little more so than usual as they celebrated a job well done for Toriko and Komatsu; at the end of the day, they always seemed to do their best and pull through even in hopeless times. Smiling as she scooted her chair a bit closer towards Toriko, she raised her glass along with everyone else in celebration and took a long sip before using her chopsticks to take up the first piece of marbled Whalesteak from the plate near her.

"Toriko," she said happily, inching the Whalesteak towards the blue haired hunter's face with bright, happy eyes; some could even say lovestruck because clearly she seemed to harbor some sort of feelings towards Toriko who didn't exactly seem to get it at times. "Toriko, try the Whalesteak! The fat content and marbled meat combination is really delicious!"

" _Eh_ \- ooo, Whalesteak," Toriko exclaimed, eying the piece of meat held firmly between Rin's chopsticks. He drooled slightly, having never actually tasted that kind of meat before, but to his nose, it smelled _heavenly_! Komatsu really was the best partner ever, cooking such delicious meals all the time.

Coco smiled at the pair, faintly amused as he moved to put some of the Whalesteak onto his own plate; he sat to Sunny's left at the five-seat table. Toriko seemed as dense as ever when it came to Rin's feelings, but lately, it felt like something was going to happen. Whether it was good or bad, the Heavenly King did not know, but he could only hope that it wasn't too terrible.

Sitting in between Rin on his right and Coco at his left sat Sunny, who was picking from a "beautiful" selection as Komatsu had called it, having wanted to do his best to appeal to everyone with tonight's meals. He looked pleased with everything he was putting onto his plate, sitting in a handsome suit that complimented his naturally pale skintone.

"Heh, Matsu's cooking is beautiful tonight," Sunny agreed before pressing a bit of Pearled Rice past his lips; as white as snow, but also fluffy and light, it glittered like pearls - even giving off a faint glow in the dark. Supposedly, it helped keep your bones a perfect white, re-growing enamel on your teeth even!

For once, Zebra hadn't decided to gel his hair back like he usually did - leaving that to Toriko and Coco to do aside from Sunny who usually tied his hair up in some lovely fashion - and no one told him otherwise, not even Sunny who usually commented on his "digusting" appearance; the fringe laid neatly against his forehead, but it seemed to have been cut some in the back as his hair no longer clung to his neck similar to Toriko's. He sat between Coco and Toriko, but appeared to mostly be interested in the food he was pressing past his lips. The scarred half of his lips were sewn up tonight, the handywork neat and efficient. Slightly taller than Toriko himself, he cut the most impressive figure out of all of the Kings.

When Toriko used his own chopsticks to eat several pieces of the Whalesteak instead of allowing Rin to feed him, she couldn't help but huff softly before pressing the piece into her own mouth. Of course, this made her let loose a pleasured sound as she chewed happily, unable to stay huffy at the delicious taste.

" _Hey_ , Toriko, don't eat them all," she protested then watched as the pile grew smaller when Zebra decided to take several as well. At that, she sighed. All four Kings had big appetites with Zebra and Toriko taking the crown. Setting down her own chopsticks, she leaned over and wrapped both her arms around Toriko's closest bicep and pouted a little. "Toriko, let me try that - It's Springseal Roll, right?"

"Huh?" Toriko replied, drooling slightly; his mouth was already open, ready to enjoy the crispy crunchyness of the Springseal Roll. "Ah, yeah, it is."

Parting her lips some to receive the roll, she looked up at the blue haired hunter expectantly as her heart thundered in her chest. Maybe this time ... this time he'd give in just _once._ "Food taste better when you share it, right? Share with me."

Toriko laughed and pressed the Springseal into his mouth with ease, a soft moan of delight slipping from his full mouth as he was more prone to eating than sharing at times when there was more than enough food to go around; what he didn't expect was to be tugged down a bit, warm softness pressing onto his left cheek.

**Eh?**

He blinked, registering the warm softness, but it was different than what he was used to. Glancing over at Rin, time seemed to slow down as he stared down upon her sweet, happy face; it was undeniable that the kiss - she was bolder than Toriko had originally thought - had made her look at him like she was looking now: expectant, glowing, _overjoyed_. No matter how happy kissing him had made her though, this was one of the things Toriko had been afraid of, at least before he had been able to take her aside and say anything -

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" came a low growl from across the table which made everyone's heads snap towards the tallest of the Heavenly Kings, Zebra.

 _Dang_  - 

Toriko opened his mouth to speak while Rin, on the other hand, was stricken with surprise just as much as everyone else at the table; his heart clenched lightly at the smell of anger which masked the underlying hint of hurt.

"Zebra - "

"Wh - what?" Rin croaked, white as a sheet as she stared at Zebra, obviously hurt by the fact that he seemed to be talking to her, but also confused because what did he mean? This sort of thing never bothered him usually - in fact, he didn't even seem to care at times when she was affectionate towards Toriko. Well, okay, so this had been a super step up, but ... still ... Why?

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" Zebra growled again, directing a glare towards Rin (who turned even paler) which made Sunny stand up, glaring at Zebra in return.

"Don't talk to my sister like that," he growled back, hands clenching into fists as he stood there between Rin and Coco who were still sitting.

Zebra slammed his hands down on the table and stood, his face tense and livid.

Komatsu hurried out of the kitchen at the noise, looking confused, but alarmed as he glanced around, trying to take stock of the situation.

"None of youse don't even know what the hell is going on!"

"That doesn't give you the right to say that to my SISTER, YOU BASTARD!"

"FUCK THIS!"

Toriko flinched, watching the slightly taller hunter storm off in anger. No - _dang it_ -

"ZEBRA - !"

"FUCK YOU!" was the King's parting comment as the blue haired hunter could only watch as Zebra stalked out of the restaraunt.

Coco frowned, glancing down towards his meal. Was _this_ what he had sensed ... ?

"T - Toriko?"

" - _The hell's_ that unbeautiful bastard's problem?!"

Sunny steamed, glad that Zebra had moved on.

Moving to stand, Toriko heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair before looking over at Rin with an apologetic expression on his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell everyone sooner, especially you Rin. Me and Zebra are _partners_."

 Rin's eyes widened, turning glassy as the remaining Heavenly Kings turned towards Toriko, surprise etched onto their features.

Toriko ... and Zebra ... ?

Sunny really couldn't wrap his head around that, but looking at Toriko's face ... It was clear that he wasn't lying. Somehow, the two of them had managed to get close enough to become  _partners._

"Partners?" she echoed, a flush of embarrassment beginning to turn her face a bright shade of red as tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. The way he had said it ... Biting her lip hard, she turned, excusing herself from the table and headed out towards the restrooms without another thought. She had been such a fool! Who wouldn't be angry to have their partner kissed by someone else?! Frustration welled up as well as the crushing realization that she'd never be with Toriko as she had always dreamed - had always known one day that'd she ... 

It hurt.

 _It hurt so much_.

He didn't like **her**.

He didn't even like _women_ at all!

 _God_ , it had been so hard to tell all these years!

"Rin!" Sunny cried out, hot on his sister's heels; he didn't even remember standing and moving towards her side, but there he was, following after her because who else could console her at this time...

Sunny was the last person Rin wanted to see because how could she face him after having always gone on and on about _Toriko_ and how they'd _be together_ and -

_God, it hurt so much!!_

* * *

Back at in the main room, Toriko had immediately excused himself after Rin had run off and had hurried to the exit without another moment to lose, leaving Coco and Komatsu by themselves. He had really screwed himself over this time, but he had to get to Zebra. This sort of emotional pain was foreign to the blue haired Gourmet Hunter, but now that he knew what it felt like, he vowed that he'd do his best to never experience it again. Everyday could be their last before they knew it, and Toriko refused to let it end like this. Not like this - !

"Ah, Coco-san, would you mind helping me clear the table?" Komatsu asked, not really sure what to say in this situation, but he was definetely feeling a little bad that things had turned sour in the middle of dinner.

"Of course," Coco replied with a nod, moving to grab the nearest plates and stood with a sigh.

* * *

Toriko's nose had lead him back home, to Zebra, who was sitting out a few yards away from the house on a bench made of cherry jawbreakers, a chunk of multi-color dotted candy (that probably came off of one of the walls of his house) in one scarred hand. The dark purple haired hunter was crunching noisily on the piece that he had in his mouth, grinding the sweetness down to make swallowing easier. He didn't say anything when the blue haired hunter slowly approached the bench, but eventually stopped him in his tracks when he got too close.

The moon was round and full in the cloudless sky, bathing the stretches of field Toriko owned for miles and miles. Thankfully, the Moon _was_ out, but even a bit of darkness wouldn't have stopped Toriko from finding his partner.

"I don't know how to deal with this type of shit, Toriko," he commented, not pausing in chewing because if he didn't fill his mouth with something sweet to distraction himself from the anger, he'd probably take his anger out on Toriko and that was the last thing he wanted to do; this made the blue haired hunter pause, close, but not as close as he wanted to be. "You should've told her sooner, asshole. We decided that you would."

Toriko's nose told him that the rage had simmered down, but Zebra's shoulders were still stiff, tense as though ready to snap again. He couldn't help but frown at his body language and rubbed the back of his neck lightly as he continued to eye the other man. It was true. They had decided that he'd be the one to tell Rin because Zebra wasn't exactly the best at talking about this sort of thing, but there had never seemed to be a right time, and to be completely honest, he just didn't want to hurt Rin like she had been hurt today. It was foolish to think that she wouldn't be hurt though. He had smelled the tears the moment they had begun welling up in Rin's eyes. That had hurt, but it had hurt even more to see a livid Zebra walk out with harsh words riding on his back.

"...Yeah... Can I sit ... ?"

He didn't like this.

He didn't like this hesitant feeling - being unsure of his actions towards Zebra. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Out of the four of them, he and Zebra were the closest and have grown even closer now, probably closer than Sunny and Coco would ever be towards each other. Having so little distance between them, but being unable to get any closer ... was like being denied his most favorite food which immediately reminded him of Honey Prison's _Appetizer_ Level. Never. He never had wanted to experience anything like that - had been so sure that he never would, but here it was happening, and it was all his _own_ fault.

Zebra's silence felt colder than the chill of Freeze Season, making Toriko's heart clench painfully as he stood waiting. Maybe it was over. Maybe he was too cocky to think that he'd get a second chance to make things right between them, but he had to - he didn't know what he'd do if couldn't fix this.

"... _Tch_. Yeah. Your stupid heartbeat is getting on my nerves."

A soft, relieved smile began to curl at the left corner of Toriko's lips as he took a seat next to the slightly taller King and leaned on his shoulder lightly when Zebra didn't change his mind and attack him.

"...Sorry. I should've said something sooner. I'm sorry, Zebra."

Reaching up, one of his free hand clutched the sleeve of Zebra's dark suit desperately, as if that'd will him to believe that he was apologizing from the bottom of his heart. What other way what there to apologize to your most precious person?

"Don't start getting cocky and thinking a few "sorries" will get you back in your good graces with me ... next time."

Toriko's heart almost plummeted when Zebra paused, but he shifted his head slightly against the other King's shoulder and inhaled his scent deeply, even rubbing his head against the material lightly.

"...Thanks..."

Grumbling softly, Zebra offered the chuck of candy which Toriko bit into.

They munched onto it together, allowing the harsh crunching of the candy to fill the silence of the night.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Not a Christmas fic, but Merry Christmas everyone!


End file.
